Bonds flipped his bat after launching a no-doubt drive leading off the second inning, and Reggie Sanders and J.T. Snow later homered to account for the Giants' runs.

Troy Glaus homered twice for the Angels, connecting in the sixth right after the Rally Monkey first appeared on the scoreboard. But with the 44,603 fans jumping around more than the little primate, Anaheim could not quite catch up in its first Series appearance.

"They keep the pressure on you," Snow said. "Every time we scored, they came back. It's going to be an exciting series."

Jason Schmidt got the victory, bolstered by 3 1-3 innings of hitless relief from Felix Rodriguez, Tim Worrell and Robb Nen, who pitched the ninth for a save. Snow also contributed a slip-sliding catch earlier that kept the Giants ahead.

"You've got to do whatever you can to get a win," Snow said. "You have to do something every night. Tonight it was my turn, tomorrow it'll be somebody else."

The Angels, who did not have one player with Series experience, had been 5-0 at home this postseason. Not that this loss will deter them, having lost the opener in their AL playoff series against the New York Yankees and Minnesota.

Game 2 will be today, with Russ Ortiz starting for the Giants against Kevin Appier.

A four-time MVP, home run king and batting champion, Bonds had waited his whole career for this moment. And he was he clearly focused even before the start.

As players on both sides bounded out of the dugouts with big smiles during pregame introductions, Bonds was absolutely without expression as he went down the line.

No one in baseball history had played in more games - 2,439 - before reaching their first World Series. And at 38 and in his 17th major league season, Bonds wanted to make every swing count - he's already done it in the first two rounds of the NL playoffs, hitting four homers with 10 RBIs despite drawing 14 walks, six of them intentional.

Bonds tapped Angels catcher Bengie Molina on the shinguards with the handle of his maple bat when he walked to the plate for the first time. Bonds took two balls before a foul tip.

With the fans excited by the prospect of a duel, Bonds turned on an inside, 90 mph fastball and sent it soaring to right field. He watched for a second and took a nice, easy trot around the bases.

Washburn smiled and tilted his head to the side with a bit of a smirk as he walked off the back of the mound and rubbed up a new ball.

Bonds became the 26th player to homer in his first Series at-bat, the first since Atlanta's Andruw Jones in 1996.

Bonds struck out, grounded out and drew a four-pitch walk the other times he came to the plate.

Glaus' power, however, has exceeded Bonds' show. Glaus has six homers in this postseason, tying the record shared by five others.

Benched for Game 5 of the NLCS, Sanders rediscovered his stroke in a hurry. One out after Bonds homered, Sanders sent a drive into the seats in right-center field for a 2-0 lead.

Sanders started the night in a 5-for-34 postseason slump. Yet manager Dusty Baker and the Giants had seen Sanders deliver in previous big games, signing him as a free agent after he hit .304 for Arizona in last year's World Series.